NEW YORK -- 171. That’s how many consecutive games the Yankees had managed to score at least one run. That’s how many times -- since June 30 of last season -- that they hadn’t been shut out.

For much of Saturday’s game against the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium, it looked like that streak would come to an end. But with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, the Yankees finally found the scoreboard when right fielder Aaron Judge hit an RBI single. Retaining the streak turned into the Yanks’ consolation prize for the day though, as their late rally fell short and Toronto came away with the 2-1 win, tying the weekend series at one game apiece.

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“Obviously that's very rare,” said New York manager Aaron Boone. “It's always surprising when you get held down like that. That's sometimes the nature of it. We had our chances. I felt like we had a lot of baserunners, and I thought we had some decent at-bats in big spots. We just couldn't break through enough today.”

The Yankees’ biggest chance came in that final frame, when DJ LeMahieu -- celebrating his 31st birthday -- singled to put two men on before Judge brought the Yankees' lone run across. That’s when the crowd began to feel as if a walk-off win were a given. The players started to sense it, too.

“Once you get one man on, that’s the biggest thing.” Judge said. “Their defense starts feeling it a little bit. Their pitcher starts feeling it a little bit. And with this team, one through nine can leave the ballpark, so if you get that one guy on anybody can go up there and tie the game. So we’re never out of any game.”

For that reason, perhaps most surprising was the manner in which the streak came to be in serious jeopardy. It didn’t take a dazzling pitching display from a lockdown ace, or a collection of stellar defensive plays by their opponent. Toronto starter Clayton Richard threw just two innings before having to leave the game with left lat tightness, and from there the Blue Jays used five pitchers the rest of the way.

Still, the Yankees couldn’t take advantage, as their bats simply weren’t operating at their usual level. It seemed to be a continuation of a trend for the Yanks since the All-Star break. In Friday's win, they were held homerless for just the second time in their last 38 games. From May 26 to June 30, they set a Major League record with a home run in 31 consecutive games.

Meanwhile, New York starter J.A. Happ tried to stave off the Blue Jays, throwing five innings of three-hit ball with one walk and five strikeouts. But he ran into trouble in the sixth, giving up back-to-back singles with only one out in a scoreless game. With Vladimir Guerrero Jr. coming to the plate, Yankees manager Aaron Boone decided to call it a day for Happ.

“He just wanted to stay in, which I love about J.A., especially when he's throwing the ball well,” Boone said. “He wanted to finish it off. I always appreciate the guys that do that. I just felt like that was going to be the end of that inning for him anyway. We had [right-hander Adam Ottavino] set up for the two righties.”

At first, it looked like Ottavino might be able to shut the door on the threat. He struck out Guerrero Jr. and seemed prepared to retire Randal Grichuk on a bloop to shallow right field. But with the shift in effect, neither Judge nor second baseman Gleyber Torres could arrive in time and the ball dropped between them, scoring the two decisive runs of the day.

“Baseball’s a funny game sometimes,” Happ said. “I would say that’s probably one of the best games I’ve thrown as far as execution and conviction and physically as well. … It was just that whole inning you kinda shake your head at.”

Added Ottavino, “I think some years you’re gonna get burned more than others. I think for the most part this year I’ve had some fortunate luck in big spots. Today just wasn’t that day.”

That seemed to be the case for a number of Yanks. In the fifth, the bases were loaded for Gary Sánchez, who smoked a line drive to center, but Grichuk was able to make a diving play to keep the Yankees off the board. And in the seventh, there was a called third strike on Judge, who had four hits otherwise, that looked to be considerably wide of the zone -- leading to an animated argument with home plate umpire Andy Fletcher.

“I was a little upset because that could be the ballgame right there,” Judge said. “If I walk right there and [Luke] Voit comes up and hits a three-run homer, it could be a different story. It’s just situations like that. It’s tough. I voiced my opinion, but I can’t get tossed in that situation because I knew I’d be coming back up in the ninth and wanted another shot at it. When stuff like that happens, you’ve got to move on, but it affects the game.”

When he did in fact have that shot in the ninth, he made it count. But Voit, in his return to the lineup from the 10-day injured list, was called out on strikes to end the game.

Despite the loss, the Yankees held on to the fifth-longest streak without being shut out in the Modern Era, and now, as Judge noted, they might have a certain edge in Sunday’s series-deciding affair.

“With this type of offense and how we get guys on base and we hit so well with runners on base this year, it’s pretty surprising [that we scored only one run],” Judge said. “But they used their whole bullpen and it kind of kept us off balance. … I’m looking forward to tomorrow now that their whole bullpen is basically used.”